and the Smell of Fresh PaintCommercially speaking, where are things happening in your town? Move to where the action is. Follow Best Buy, Home Depot, Starbucks and the other Big Boys who have already done the research.Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.Media costs are escalating and the public is hiding from ads. These are just two of the reasons why a great location is more important today than ever before.Expensive rent is the cheapest advertising your money can buy.Is Walgreens able to afford great locations because they do a big volume, or do they do a big volume because they always secure great locations?A high-visibility location communicates leadership. It implies that you do things better than your competitors.The goal of advertising is to become familiar to your customer, to become part of their world so they think of you immediately when they need what you sell. All else being equal, customers choose the familiar over the unfamiliar. A great location makes you familiar to the public.Are you in retail? Cut your yellow page ads dramatically or altogether. Add these dollars to your occupancy budget. (The yellow pages are a service directory. Don’t waste your retail exposure dollars there.)Cheap rent is seductive and insidious. It ensnares even the brightest people.Two weeks ago I was listening to a man tell me about his business when I abruptly told him that his problems were the result of a bad location. He hadn't yet told me anything about his location when I made the statement.“What makes you think I have a bad location?”“I knew the moment you told me which parts of your company were profitable and which were struggling.”“But I didn’t think the location would matter for a business in my category. We’re a destination. We don’t need drive-by traffic.”“How much do you spend for occupancy and how much are you spending for advertising?”“Two thousand a month for rent. Seventy-five hundred a month on radio ads.”“What would it cost to be where the action is?”“About four thousand a month.”“Take the extra two thousand from the ad budget. Four thousand for occupancy and fifty-five hundred on the radio will make you a lot more money.”Your location tells the public what you believe about your company in your heart.How proud is your location?Roy H. Williams